PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota legislators are eager to start a two-year pilot project in which 30 returning lawmakers will use iPads for legislative work.

The project will get under way with the Jan. 8 start of this year's legislative session.

Jim Fry, executive director of the state Legislative Research Council, tells KCCR radio that the council is studying whether to give the Apple products to all 105 legislators. The pilot project was launched after some lawmakers requested it.

The selected legislators will get the devices for the 2013 and 2014 sessions.

Lawmakers started using laptops for their official business in 2001, and then switched to tablets around 2006.

Fry says the iPads might not be compatible for all legislative work, but the $18,000 project will help determine if they're useful overall.

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